Don't Speak
A character decides to stop talking for a certain period of time, either because they were challenged to do so or for personal development.
The Patty Duke Show
Appearances
- The Patty Duke Show: Season 2, episode 36, "Patty the Chatterbox" (1965). Martin is tired of Patty's constant chatter, so he challenges her to stop talking for three days.
- The Odd Couple: Season 3, episode 5, "The Odd Monks" (1972). After joining a monastery, Oscar and Felix have to remain silent for 24 hours as penance for gambling and finking respectively.
- Taxi: Season 4, episode 1, "Jim the Psychic" (1981). Tony and Latka get into an argument, and to solve it, they each pick a card from a deck, and whoever gets the lowest card has to stop talking for a whole week; Latka draws the low card.
- 3rd Rock from the Sun: Season 3, episode 7, "Eleven Angry Men and One Dick" (1997). Harry and Tommy volunteer to stop talking for five days to help Mary's anthropology class learn about pre-verbal cultures.
- Seinfeld: Season 9, episode 13, "The Cartoon" (1998). After his big mouth embarrasses his friends one too many times, Kramer decides to stop talking permanently.
- The Office (US): Season 2, episode 20, "Drug Testing" (2006). Jim and Pam say something at the same time, and Pam calls "jinx," which she says means Jim can't talk until he buys her a Coke, but the soda machine is sold out of Coke, so Jim has to stay silent for the rest of the day, and he does, even when Kelly rambles on to him about Ryan.
- Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 8, episode 5, "Vow of Silence" (2011). A friend of Larry's has taken a vow of silence on the advice of a "spiritual advisor," but Larry thinks he's cheating because he just mouths everything he wants to say so people can read his lips.